


Yang at the Dance

by Peanutbutterassistant



Series: Dance Dance Fall in Love [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Gen, Lesbian Yang, Mild Cursing, Pining, Realizing you’re in love with your best friend whoops, TW for Cardinal catcalling Yang and Yang beating him up, The Beacon Dance from Yang’s POV, Unrequited (for now), saying the word “sex” exactly twice, there’s some sun/Blake but it’s not endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26582995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peanutbutterassistant/pseuds/Peanutbutterassistant
Summary: The Beacon dance (Volume 2 episode 6 and 7) from Yang’s point of view.Blake trained her eyes on Yang, and suddenly, she felt like she was under a spotlight.“I think you owe me a dance.” she said.Blake held out her hand- long, calloused, tan fingers- towards her, for Yang to take. Her heartbeat was suddenly offbeat with the deep, pounding bass of the dance music.A smile boomed on her face, one Yang did not have to force, as she took Blake’s hand.She turned to her post at the entrance.“I’ll take your shift for you.” said Ruby, “Go have fun!”Yang tightened her hand around the cat Fanus’s. Blake’s were smaller than hers. Yang had shorter fingers, but bigger palms. Muscled, and corse.“You hear that Blake?” Yang said over the music, “You’re going to have fun tonight.”
Relationships: Yang Xiao Long/ Blake Belladonna
Series: Dance Dance Fall in Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186238
Comments: 14
Kudos: 23





	Yang at the Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, this is my first fic here! I’m an excited.  
> Anyway, some dialogue and action are taken directly from RWBY Volume 2 Episodes 6 and 7. There’s a scene taken from the novel “After the Fall”. Specifically pages 126-127 Which I’m pretty sure are supposed to take place at the dance. Pages 122-125 and 157-162 are mentioned. The part where Blake and Yang make plans for the weekend is supposed end up being that one scene in the DC/ RWBY comics issue 4. You know the one.  
> Okay have fun!

Yang wasn't expecting Blake to show up per say, she was just really hoping she was. Opening up to her earlier that day (about her parents, her childhood) had been easier than she thought it would be. Yang rarely talked about that part of her life with anyone. None of her friends from Signal knew, and none of her teammates knew, besides Blake.

She wasn’t expecting to tell her either. She wasn’t really planning on telling anyone. Yang was content in living The Lie, being the happy, peppy, protective older sister. Which she was already, but it got tiresome pretending nothing phased her, that it wasn't exhausting being the “Adult” all the time. Taiyang had always been there when she needed him, but he was... he wasn’t really in a great place to raise children. He wasn’t emotionally available. Having to grow up fast, be emotionally mature and being there when Ruby needed a shoulder to cry on, always being the responsible one. And Yang was responsible, so it wasn’t that hard. And she loved her baby sister, so she didn’t really mind. But Yang did miss her childhood sometimes. Just a bit. It was like a longing for something she never had… a father who who was there when she woke from nightmares, a mother who she knew. And Tiyang had gotten much better over the years, but that didn’t make up for all that lost time Yang had to spend taking care of Ruby when she was in her preteens. Not that she really minded all that much. As long as Ruby was happy, so was Yang.

And yet, no matter how complacent in The Lie she was, no matter how she told herself it didn’t matter if no one knew, she had told Blake that story about her mom. For some reason, Blake was just easy to talk to. It was probably because they were partners. Yang heard that you get to know your partner really well in your years at Beacon, even better than your other teammates. That was probably it. Yang could still remember her vulnerable eyes, dark circles around them. How it made Yang’s heart hurt, thinking of when she was in a similar situation. While Yang had to learn the hard way, she had been determined not to let Blake learn that way too. Which was why Yang was so anxious about Blake coming out tonight. Not only because she and Weiss did fucking amazing with the decorations (because they totally did), but because Blake needed a break (haha, rhyming).

But Yang wasn't sure if Blake had followed her advice- if she’d be here. She hoped so, but that wasn’t enough. So she stood behind her white check-in podium, greeting everyone who walked in, The Smile plastered on her face.

The Smile was reassuring. Or, it was supposed to be. Yang was a naturally happy person, so she was often smiling. She had come to notice (when Ruby was very little) that it put Ruby at ease when Yang was at ease, when Yang was unfazed by the chaos of their life, when she smiled, despite the mess. And Yang could understand the appeal. She was an old elm tree, thousands of years old. Standing in the same spot she had been in for her whole life. Rooted miles deep into the earth. Yang was strong, reliable. She was always there. No matter how big the storm, Yang would prevail past it, with a smile on her face. She knew how much it meant to Ruby that Yang was strong, reliable- after all, she was all Ruby consistently had to look up to. So Yang was strong, and she was reliable. She didn’t waver, even when she really wanted to. Now it was just second nature, to smile even when she was uncomfortable, uneasy, scared. And that’s how The Smile was born.

And Yang wore The Smile as she greeted guests, anxiously tapping her fingers on the podium. The door opened again. This time it was a familiar face.

“Aw! You look beautiful!” Yang squealed.

Ruby tottered in, unbalanced on her heels, as though she’d fall over any minute.

“Ugh.” she groaned, combing a hand through her hair, “Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?”

Ruby was wearing the red dress with the black lace they had picked out together when they went dress shopping two days ago, it looked just as cute now as it did in the dressing room.

Ruby took a step forward and nearly fell over, basically hobbling over to the podium. Yang laughed and walked forward to balance her out.

“I can’t believe you thought these shoes were a good idea!” Ruby complained, as Yang held onto her arm, steadying her.

“Aw, c’mon Rubes. They looked cute on the mannequin.” Yang countered, “Besides, they complete the look.”

Yang gestured down at Ruby’s three inch black heels.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Ruby snapped back, swatting her arm away, “You’re five-eight! You never have to wear heels.”

“Not true! I’m wearing kitten heels.”

“It’s not the same!”

“Oh, come on now,” Yang said, putting her hands on her hips, “You made it here, didn’t you? You’ll make it through the night. And if you really need to, we can switch heels later. Okay?”

Ruby made the cutest little pouting face in the world (not that Yang was biased- because she wasn’t- Ruby’s little pout was the cutest thing in all of Remnant, that was an object fact).

“Fine.” she muttered.

The door opened again, and Yang readied The Smile to greet who ever it was but-

It was Blake. She had combed her hair (it had been getting a bit raggedy lately, she hadn’t been taking care of herself recently), it looked sleek and dark, the same color as her bow. She wore a tight fitting purple dress, a slit on one side, and dark lace at the chest. Her legs were bare and she wore dark heels, similar to Ruby’s but they looked more… mature on Blake. Yang’s breath caught in her throat when she tore her eyes away from Blake onto the man on her arm, Sun.

For some reason, Yang hadn’t considered that Blake would bring a date. Which she should have, of course, most people did. Weiss probably had one. But Blake didn’t seem like the type of person who even liked formal school parties, much less the kind of person who would go out of their way to bring a date along. Not that it should really matter to Yang who Blake took to school dances. At all. She really shouldn’t care. But for some reason she found herself caring. A lot. Which was pretty confusing. But she guessed it made sense for Bake to bring Sun. She didn’t talk about him much (to Yang, at least), but they always seemed to get along. As far as Yang knew, Blake didn’t have any other friends who were boys. Besides, Sun was the kind of person who would totally pester Blake into going to the dance with him. Maybe that's what happened. Sun was warm, friendly, extroverted, he talked about everything and anything, and he did it with such ease. He was a jokester, a prankster, he didn’t have a care in the world. He was Blake’s opposite in every way. Maybe that’s what she saw in him? Yang admittedly didn’t know much about the Fanus boy. They seemed happy together. Sun was smiling. But Sun was always smiling. Yang couldn’t help but be jealous of Sun sometimes. He was everything Yang tried to be, tried to convey, but he did it with such ease. He was always upbeat, calm, and Yang was those things often, but not often enough. And she had to try so hard to be upbeat when she wasn’t. And when Sun wasn’t upbeat, he still managed to make people laugh. Why was it so effortless for him when Yang had to try so hard?

But Blake had come. And Yang should be happy (this was what she had wanted) but somehow, she wasn’t.

Yang plastered on The Smile.

“Oh you guys! You look great!” she said.

Blake quickly flicked her gaze from Yang’s face to her dress and back up to her face again, so quickly, Yang almost missed it. Blake did that sometimes, when she needed to gauge somebody, or figure out how to respond to something.

“Thanks,” she responded, her voice low, “You do too.”

“I’m surprised you got Sun to wear a shirt!” Yang teased.

“Hey!” he barked, “I chose to wear this all on my own!”

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Yang, “You clean up nice.”

“Wow, that’s two compliments in one day,” Sun beamed, “Maybe I should keep the shirt.”

“Nah,” Ruby said, “Seeing you with a shirt buttoned up is weird.”

Yang gave Ruby a quick jab to the side.

“I mean you look great!” Ruby amended, “I like your… I like how you…”

Ruby made several vague hand gestures before letting her sentence run into oblivion.

“Nice one Ruby.” Blake praised.

Sun made a small “hrmp” noise and crossed his arms. Blake trained her eyes on Yang, and suddenly, she felt like she was under a spotlight.

“I think you owe me a dance.” she said.

Blake held out her hand- long, calloused, tan fingers- towards her, for Yang to take. Her heartbeat was suddenly offbeat with the deep, pounding bass of the dance music.

A smile boomed on her face, one Yang did not have to force, as she took Blake’s hand.

She turned to her post at the entrance.

“I’ll take your shift for you.” said Ruby, “Go have fun!”

Yang tightened her hand around the cat Fanus’s. Blake’s were smaller than hers. Yang had shorter fingers, but bigger palms. Muscled, and corse.

“You hear that Blake?” Yang said over the music, “You’re going to have fun tonight.”

Blake laughed and the sound rang in Yang’s ears.

They walked over to the dance floor. Leaving Ruby and Sun behind. The songs all melted together, but Yang was pretty sure a new one was starting. They stopped in the mass of people and Blake took a step closer, putting her left hand on Yang’s waist.

“Why do you get to lead?” Yang complained.

“Because my parents taught me ballroom dancing and I’m better at it than you.” she replied, smirking.

“You’ve never seen me ballroom dance,” said Yang, feigning offence, “You have no idea whether I'm good at it or not.”

The corners of Blake’s mouth quirked, like she was hiding a laugh, “No, but I can take a pretty good guess.”

Yang huffed and placed a hand on Blake’s shoulder.

As they swayed back and forth, Yang debated whether or not it was weird to stare at Blake’s face. It was the only part of Blake she could see when they were this close, and it was gorgeous. She had put on enough foundation that Yang could no longer see the circles under her eyes, and she was wearing purple eyeshadow that matched her dress. Blake usually wore some purple makeup near her eyes, but today it seemed particularly important that Yang notice. So staring at her face would be totally easy, considering how much Yang wanted to do it. But at the same time it felt weird, because Blake didn’t really like it when people stared at her. Also, Yang had the sudden irrational fear of being caught staring at Blake’s face. She didn’t know why, but the idea of Blake knowing Yang was staring at her face made her really nervous. But it also felt rude to not look at her face. It was quite the predicament Yang was in.

“I like your bow.” said Blake, suddenly, “It goes great with your… dress.”

“Why thank you!” said Yang, happy with both the complement and the reason to stare at Blake’s face, “Ruby said it was too much, but I thought it pulled the whole outfit togeth- wait a minute.”

I like your bow!  
Thanks.  
It goes great with your… pajamas!  
… Right.

Now that Yang was staring at her face, she could see Blake’s facial expressions. Mischievous, teasing.

“Oh I know what you’re doing.” Yang spoke, “You’re making fun of hot attempts at small talk, the night we first met.”

Blake giggled, the sound made Yang’s heart clench.

“Oh ha ha. You’re the one we should be laughing at. You were so engrossed in your book, you told us to fuck off!”

“In my defence, I came to Beacon to escape the White Fang, specifically because I was tired of friendships. I wasn’t exactly looking for friends at the moment.”

Yang nodded seriously. “And yet, here we are.”

Yang pulled their connected hands up over Blake’s head, she spun around once before coming back.

“I do like the bow though.” she added, “What made you pick this dress?”

Suddenly, Yang was incredibly self conscious about her outfit.

“Why? Is it… bad?”

“No!” said Blake quickly, “No. It’s good- great, even. It’s just… it doesn't seem like you. Do you know what I mean?”

Yang shrugged, “I guess?”

“I just meant,” Blake amended, “The frills, it’s not very ‘Yang’.”

Yang nodded.

“Honestly, I wasn’t even going to get a dress at first. My original plan was to wear a tux.”

“What!?” said Blake, her eyebrows shooting up, “Why didn’t you?”

Yang laughed, “It’s kinda a long story.”

Blake’s eyes crinkled as her smile grew wider, tilting her head to the side, inviting her to share. And suddenly, she couldn't refuse.

“Well,” Yang began, “Ruby and I were planning on going dress shopping last weekend, so we would be nice and ready and not have to rush to find something good. But I kept getting held up by classes and dance stuff. I told Ruby she could go alone if she wanted to, but she insisted she needed my ‘fashion expertise’.”

Blake laughed again, “Your what?”

“I know!” Yang agreed, “That's what I said!”

Again, Yang held their hands up high and Blake spun around, and came back.

“But we eventually made it out two days ago.” Yang continued, “But the first shop we hit up, nothing. No dress clothes at all. Next shop, barely anything. At the third shop we found Ruby’s dress- thank god-, but all the suits there were in men’s sizes. And I normally wouldn’t care about wearing men’s clothes, but nothing fit. I mean, the pants were fine, but I couldn’t fit into any of the shirts!”

“What, were the sleeves too small for your muscles?” asked Blake, condescendingly.

“No.” replied Yang, coping her tone, “Well, yes. But the main problem was my boobs, man!”

And Blake snorted (actually snorted!) before giggling uncontrollably.

Once more, Yang held up their hands, and Blake spun around on her toes and came back.

“I’m serious!” Yang laughed.

“I’m sure you are.” Blake giggled, “The mental image you’re giving me is too much!”

And a real smile creeped onto Yang’s face. She didn't mind being the butt of every joke for the rest of her life if it made Blake laugh like that.

“I’m sorry,” Blake sighed, the giggles subsiding, “I’m sorry. Continue.”

Yang gave a loud, fake “AHEM”, before continuing.

“Anyway. This was the third place we checked and we figured we probably weren’t going to find anything better than this, so we asked the manager how much it would cost to get the shirt fitted.” Yang tossed her head to the side, trying to get the hair out of her eyes, “And she told us it would be over two hundred lien! Like, I wanted to look hot in a suit but not that badly. And we considered asking Weiss for money but decided she probably wouldn’t give it to us, not after last time. And even if she did, fittings took a couple weeks and the dance was in two days. And Ruby wanted to go home, so I just went over to the dress section again and uh… this was the only one that fit. Chest wise.”

Blake giggled again, “Gods, you weren’t kidding!” she said, “You’re lucky you can pull basically anything off. I have three colors I look good in and that’s it.”

Yang’s heart did a weird fluttery thing before settling down again.

“Oh.”

She could feel the nervousness from before creeping back up on her.

“Thanks.” she finished awkwardly, “I don’t think I could’ve worn something like Sun’s getup though. Maybe it's for the best I bought this instead.”

“I dunno,” Blake said, her voice suddenly deep and quiet, (so much so, Yang was tempted to step in closer, just to hear her better) “I think you would’ve looked great in a suit.”

And Yang knew that wasn’t what she meant, but all she heard was ‘you’re better when you're you, not when you’re trying to be someone else’.

As if somehow, Blake knew about The Lie, and was trying to push past it. It wasn’t a stretch, Blake knew about her mom, what Yang went through trying to find her. Blake knew what that was like, and she had probably guessed that that part of her wasn’t gone. Not entirely.

Yang drew their hands up and Blake spun around and came back. And maybe it was just Yang’s imagination, but Blake seemed to be closer than before. And suddenly Yang was regretting the lights she decorated the hall with because one had just flashed purple, and it lit up Blake's profile, making her look stunning (not that she hadn’t been before). And they were so close, Yang could almost see her reflection in Blake’s gold eyes, and she could hear her own heartbeat so loud, she was sure Blake could too.

Blake’s face suddenly changed. Her eyes lit up and she beamed, and Yang was almost foolish enough to think that beautiful smile was for her. But Blake’s eyes were trained on something behind Yang. Yang looked over her shoulder, and Sun was walking towards them.

“Yang?”

At her name, Yang turned back to stare at Blake’s face, which had suddenly become painful.

“Yeah?”

“The song is over.”

“Oh.”

And it was. Had Yang been paying attention to literally anything besides Blake, she would have noticed the tempo of the song speed up, changing from one tune to another.

Yang was hit with the sudden realization that she didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay glued to Blake’s side for the rest of the night, stay in Blake’s arm for the rest of her life, even. And that's why she knew she couldn’t.

Yang raised her hands above Blake’s head one final time, and she spun around, but she did not come back.

They both took two steps backwards, and bowed to each other. Then Sun was there. Blake opened her mouth to speak, but Yang shot her The Smile, and turned to Sun, gestured towards Blake, and walked off, refusing to look back.

Everything seemed fuzzy for a moment and her Smile wavered. Her heart hurt. Her everything hurt. Yang knew if she stopped to think, she would know why. So she didn’t. She spotted Ruby and Weiss standing off to the side, and she walked towards them.

‘Ruby must have gotten someone to cover for me.’ she thought.

She stopped as soon as she reached them and faced back toward the dance, a hand on her hip, The Smile on her lips. She said nothing.

She flicked her gaze to the dancing couples on the floor, and spotted Blake, in Sun’s arms, laughing at something he had said, and her heart ached.

“I told you she would come,” Yang said, hoping the dejection didn’t creep up into her voice.

“Mission accomplished.” Weiss agreed.

“So… what do we do now?” asked Ruby, looking up to Yang for answers and for once, Yang wished she had them.

“Just have fun!” Yang replied, flashing her The Smile, waving her off and walking away.

She could hear Ruby complaining “Does this mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?” but Yang was too far away. She needed a good toilet bowl to throw up in.

But she couldn’t. Yang flicked her gaze up to the nearest clock. She had a few minutes left of being hostess. She walked calmly up to the podium at the entrance, telling the pretty auburn haired girl she could go back to dancing now, and took her place, standing, staring at the door. And she thought.

She thought about the way Blake held out her hand, small in Yang’s, how she had looked at her with tease in her eyes. How her shoulders would tighten when she giggled, how the sound of her laugh made Yang melt. How Blake would look at her and tilt her head, as if saying open up to me, I’ll understand. And Yang wanted to, more than anything. And she had. But now she couldn’t.

When the realization came to her, Yang was hardly surprised.

‘I’m in love.’

And it shouldn’t have been surprising. Blake was the first person in years Yang opened up to, one of the few people she felt truly safe around. And she had only met her at the start of the term.

She remembered Ruby pointing her out. The girl in black, sitting on the sidelines, illuminated by a reading lamp, engrossed in a book. She remembered how her eyes lit up when she was talking about her novel, clearly passionate about the topic. She remembered how Yang wished she were the one making her look like that, not Ruby.

She remembered meeting her again in the Emerald forest, how her blades cut through Grimm flesh, how she stood there smirking as their eyes connected, and how Yang felt at ease knowing that this girl would be her partner for the next four years, even though they barely knew each other.

She remembered vowing to break Blake out of her shell, making excuses to hang out with her. Her desperation to find something to help her with, the way Yang would count it a personal win whenever she made Blake smile.

It should have been obvious, she should have known. How long had this been going on, forever? People don't fall in love at first sight. Love takes time and effort. Has she been falling in love with Blake this whole time then?

Falling in love with someone on your team was bad. Falling in love with your partner was even worse. You saw your team everyday. You lived in the same room, You took the same classes, you went on missions together, you would become huntressess and huntsmen together. But you were with your partner all the time. You trained together, you partnered up for every exercise, you trusted each other with your weapons and armour. You told each other everything. Yang couldn’t fall in love with Blake. If Blake didn’t feel the same- which was very likely, considering how she came here with Sun and not her- then neither of them would be able to work together correctly. The weird tension they would cause would mess up not just their dynamic as partners, but the whole team’s dynamic. And it wasn’t like she could switch partners. Ozpin had never done that before, and she doubted he would make an exception for her if she asked.

So basically, Yang was screwed. Which is fine. Yang is really good at pretending anyway. Now she just has to pretend to Blake. Blake who she had already opened up to. Blake who would totally see right through her. Ugh.

Maybe she could avoid talking to her too much? Or spending too much time together outside class? But that would mess up the team dynamic. But she was already messing up the team dynamic by feeling this way. Double ugh.

Maybe, at least, she could avoid her for the rest of the night? That sounded plausible. Maybe somebody spiked the drinks, and Yang could get drunk enough that she could forget the whole night. Probably not, though. Whoever would want to spike the drinks would have to be pretty ballsey to do it where Professor Ozpin could see. And even if they did, it wouldn’t be enough to make her forget anything. Triple ugh.

Yang checked the time, two more minutes until she could hide in the bathroom.

Suddenly the door opened, and Yang plastered on The Smile.

“You guys are just in time!”

Yang vaguely recognized the students from Vacuo (or was it Atlas?) that Ruby was friends with, Emerald and Mercury.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world.” said Mercury.

“Glad to hear it, gang!” Yang said cheerily, “Have fun in there!”

“Thanks,” said Emerald, “We will!”

And they walked past her, arm in arm. 

...

From her spot upstairs, she could see Blake and Sun laughing at something Neptune must have said. After her duty as hostess was over, she left to go to the bathroom to either throw up or cry, she hadn’t made up her mind. She ended up doing neither. Just looking pathetic, alone in the bathroom stall. Then two third year girls came in and started making out so Yang left.

Then she went out to the dance floor, and tried to have some fun. She even tried every drink at the punch table (Ruby was there, avoiding talking to people) to see if any of them were spiked (It was the only way she could think of to loosen up at all tonight) but none were, and dancing wasn't improving her mood at all.

So she decided to go up to the second floor to escape people without looking suspicious. The second floor really couldn’t even be called a floor, it was mostly just a balcony that snaked above and around the whole room. There weren’t many people up here, just couples that wanted to make out. Also not helping her mood.

But Yang wasn’t focused on them. Yang leaned over the railing, looking down at Blake and Sun and Neptune. They were talking, Neptune pointed to something and walked out to the balcony, where Pyrrha had just walked out. Now Blake and Sun were alone again, and Yang tore her eyes away. She didn’t know why she was making herself miserable by watching them. She had realized she had spent so much time getting Blake to come to the dance- to take a break, getting Ruby ready, preparing the whole dance for everyone else, that she hadn’t had time to worry if she was happy. Yang assumed that once she knew everyone else was happy, she would be too. But she wasn’t. Which was a first, actually. Yang usually wasn’t one to have difficulty when it came to happiness. She wasn’t one to mope. And yet...

Yang heard the clip clop of high heels walking up to her, but Yang didn’t turn around until Ruby was standing next to her.

“You know,” Yang began, “I think we really needed this.”

And by we, of course, I meant Blake.

Yang trained her eyes down to where Blake and Sun had resumed dancing.

“Yeah!” Ruby agreed, leaning her hands over the railing, “And you did a great job planning it, too.”

“Aw, thanks!” said Yang, throwing on a smile and an arm around her sister, pulling her in.

“It wasn’t all me, though. Weiss did a lot too.”

Ruby gagged and grabbed onto Yang’s arms, trying to escape the embrace.

Yang released her, and Ruby took a step back, exaggerating her suffocation.

Yang laughed, but the happiness didn’t last.

“Tomorrow it’s back to work,” she sighed.

“Well,” said Ruby, “I’m sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us.”

Suddenly, Yang heard laughter coming from below. She and Ruby leaned farther over the railing to find the source of mockery.

“Except for that,” Ruby amended.

On the dance floor, Jaune walked through the crowd, toward Pyrrha. The dancers laughed and made a path for him. He was wearing a white, frilly, strapless dress. When Pyrrha turned around and saw him, she laughed, then Jaune spoke. Yang couldn’t hear him from where she was, but he extended a hand to Pyrrha, and she took it. A new song started to play, its upbeat tempo making for the perfect song to dance to, which was what they did. Nora and Ren came up to them and began bopping along to the rhythm as well.

“He does have nice legs,” Yang commented.

“Ew!” Ruby blanched, elbowing her in the side.

Yang gave her a mock “ow” even though the blow didn’t hurt at all.

“If you’re being disgusting, I’m going to leave.” Ruby said.

“Aw, c’mon! I’m right!” Yang pouted, “Aren’t you having fun?”

“I dunno,” Ruby said, “Do you think anyone would notice if I left early?”

“You’re leaving?” Yang gasped, “Is it because of the shoes? We can trade, if you want.”

“No it's not the shoes,” Ruby explained, “Although they totally suck. I just don’t like parties. The loud music, the fact that I have to socialize with people, ugh.”

“I get it Rubes,” said Yang, “Do you want me to come back to the dorm with you?”

“Nah,” Ruby replied, “I’m good. I know how you like parties. You have fun, okay?”

Yang gave her The Smile and two thumbs up, which seemed to satisfy her. She walked back down the stairs.

Welp, there goes her excuse for leaving.

It was kinda sad that Yang needed an excuse to leave, she usually loved parties. She was a regular at nearly every rave hotspot in town- well, the ones that didn’t check ID’s that is. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to have a good time. Yang went back to people watching. Jaune and Pyrrah were dancing, as were Nora and Ren. Penny was bopping from side to side, surrounded by bodyguards. Weiss was talking to Neptune by the balcony, and Ruby was standing by the exit, looking left and right for anyone who might be watching her, then nearly tripping as she walked out the door. Yang seemed to be the only one of her friends who didn’t have a dance partner.

Maybe that was it, maybe that was why she was so down, she didn’t have a date. If she really wanted one, Yang knew she could just go downstairs and ask any hot, single girl if they wanted to dance and they’d almost definitely say yes, but Yang knew it wouldn’t be the same as having a date.

Yang scanned the dance floor again, searching for Sun and Blake. When she didn’t spot them, she furrowed her eyes. Where could they have gone? It was then Yang remembered this was a dance full of college students and they had almost definitely snook off to have sex somewhere. Yang hung her head farther off the railing and sighed, suddenly sick to her stomach. One hell of a night to realize you’re in love with your best friend. Yang debated leaving the party without an excuse since nothing good could come this day (clearly), when she was suddenly startled by a voice.

“Wow, you look miserable. What happened?”  
Yang turned around quickly, now facing Sun, who had one eyebrow raised.

‘Well, at least they’re not having sex.’ she thought.

“What, me?” Yang panicked, “I’m fine.”

She shot him The Smile, but Sun didn’t seem convinced.

“Nah nah nah,” he countered, “Just a second ago, you looked like you wanted to throw yourself over the ledge. C’mon. What's really up?”

“Nothing!” Yang insisted, “I am just-” she gestured vaguely to the scene below them “-watching the people enjoy my immaculate party planning! I am having an amazing night!”

Sun still looked unconvinced. “Totally. Which is why you’re up here, by yourself.”

Yang tore her gaze back down to the dance floor.

“Did your date do something awful?” he asked, “That face you’re making looks heartbroken.”

“I’m not heartbroken,” said Yang, unconvincingly.

“Whoever he is, I’ll punch him,” Sun prompted.

“There is no date, Sun,” Yang smiled at him, “Though I do appreciate it. But if anyone broke my heart, I am more than capable of beating her up myself.”

“Well I’m sure,” Sun said, “It just felt like the gentlemanly thing to do to at least offer.”

They shared a laugh, and Yang returned her gaze to the dancers.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“I’m sure,” Yang replied, “Speaking of dates, where's yours?”

“I have no idea where Blake is,” Sun replied, “Nor am I sure she is my date at all.”

Yang raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, I did ask her to come to the dance with me,” Sun began, “But she said she wasn’t going. And then as I was walking in today, she caught up with me, and I asked her if this means we were going together, and she said ‘technically’. What does that even mean? You’re her partner, Yang, do you know what that means?”

Yang gave him a shrug. “Your guess is as good at mine. Blake’s mysterious like that.”

Yang peared over the railing again, looking for Blake. “You really don’t know where she went?”

“Well, she said she was going to get some fresh air. But I checked outside for her, and she wasn’t there.” Sun ran a hand through his hair, “I thought if I came up here, I would be able to spot her, but no luck. If this is her way of ditching me, I get it, but I would feel better if she just told me she wasn’t interested.”

“No,” said Yang, “She didn’t ditch you. She’s probably just being allusive. Trust me, she’ll find you eventually.”

Yang took a deep breath, and knew what she was about to say was honest, “And don’t worry about Blake liking you, because she totally does. She’s just not great with the feelings thing, but she's crazy about you, dude.”

“Really?” Sun asked bashfully.

“For sure. Trust me. I’m her partner, I would know.”

“Cool.” said Sun.

They sat in silence for a moment. Yang let it happen.

“You really know her, huh?”

“What?”

“Blake.” Sun explained, “You guys are pretty close, aren’t you?”

Yang nodded once, slowly, not sure where this was going.

“She seemed a little off, y’know, before disappearing. I wanna go find her to see what's up, but I don’t think I know her enough. Like, I’m not the right person to go talk to her.”

“And…?” Yang began.

“And I was thinking you might be? You seem to know her much better than I do. Better than anyone, actually. Which is pretty impressive. Blake is a hard person to get to know.”

Yang thought to the million things she had to beg Blake to come to, the million times she had to drag her to come hang out.  
‘Tell me about it.’ she thought.  
But at the same time, a flutter set off in her chest. Sun was right, Yang knew Blake pretty dang well. Blake had come to Beacon with the mindset that she wouldn’t befriend anybody, to avoid getting hurt by those she cares about again. And Yang didn’t know the details, but she knew Blake had been hurt pretty bad in the past. And somehow, even without knowing that, Yang had managed to push past her barriers. Somehow, Yang had gotten closer to tearing down Blake’s walls than anybody else. Not Sun, Yang.

“And she really seems to care about you. Uh, from what I can tell. You think you’re up for it?”

Suddenly confident, Yang smiled at him. “Please, if anyone can find Blake when she doesn’t want to be found, it’s me. I’ll be right back.”

...

Yang walked outside. She surveyed the scene, not spotting Blake anywhere. Yang knew if Blake was hiding, she would seek higher ground. Blake liked to be high up, sitting on counter tops, the upper bunk bed, desks, Yang was fairly sure it was because of her cat half, but she didn’t think it was a great idea to ask her about that, it seemed like a pretty awkward question, one Blake probably wouldn’t take kindly to. And yet, surprisingly, she was not on the roof. Weird.

She retreated back inside, wandering past the couples on the dance floor (some of whom were grinding, which teachers were trying to break up, none of which were succeeding), and past Weiss and Neptune dancing. Suddenly, over the crowd (being tall did come in handy occasionally) Yang saw a familiar bow. Ah ha, spotted.

Yang pushed past the crowd, and saw Blake Belladonna at a table for two, alone, reading a book. Of fucking course she was. Where had she even found that thing? Was she hiding in her bra?

“Blake!” Yang called as she approached.

The cat Fanus looked up to meet Yang’s eye, and smiled.

“Hey. What’re you doing here? I thought you’d be on the dance floor.”

Yang sat opposite her, “Nah, I’d rather be over here with you. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be with Sun? Like, your date?”

Blake shrugged noncommittally, “I dunno.” she explained simply. Which was Blake speak for ‘I don’t want to talk about this right now.’ It was probably actually ‘I don’t want to talk about this, ever’ But Yang could squeeze it out of her if it was important enough, later.

“Fair enough,” Yang supplied, “You look off, though, everything okay?”

Blake shrugged again.

“Is it... like… Roman Torchwick related?”

“No.”

“Did Sun do something awful?”

“No!”

“Then what iiiisss iiittttt?!” Yang whined dramatically, draping herself over the table.

“Nothing!” Blake hissed, “I just... needed a dance break. That’s all.”

“Ugh, fine,” Yang resigned, “Be like that.”

Clearly, Yang wasn’t going to get anything out of her like this.

“You know what?” Yang said, “You look like you need a drink.”

“What?” Blake asked.

“I’m going to go get us drinks, I’ll be right back.”

“What?” Blake repeated, “No, don’t.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back super quick. Trust me, you’re gonna love what I bring back, I’m basically a master at knowing what's good.”

Before Blake could respond, Yang turned around and jogged over to the punch table. She looked at the selection they had, and decided to pour two Strawberry Sunrises (They didn’t have Sunflower Pop, disgraceful and homophobic) and turned around to bring them back to her, when she suddenly ran into someone, dropping the drinks on the floor.

“Shit!” she exclaimed, checking her dress to see if any had gotten on her (white fucking stains), and luckily, nothing had. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry! Gods.” said the person in question- Cardinal. Perfect. This asshole. He was accompanied by some guy on his team, probably also named after a bird.

Cardinal looked her up and down, and his expression changed from annoyed to “I’m about to get lucky” (he was not). Gods, not today.

“Two drinks?” he asked, “You got a date to get back to, blondie?”

Yang took a second to let in a deep breath, and then a long-suffering sigh, then put on her best “I’m into girls, genius” face.

“No. Just my friend. Now if you’ll excuse me-”

“Oh, well you’re free then.” he began, “Why don’t you stay a while, sugartits, we could ditch, hang elsewhere, just the two of us.”

His buddy laughed.

Everytime. Every Gods damn time she wore cleavage, it was like an open invitation for every asshole in the club to hit on her. She hated it, absolutely hated it. Yang was starting to think she should write “lesbian” on her forehead from now on.

“Nope, I’m good,” Yang said simply, and continued to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

“C’mon, don't be like that.”

Getting angry, Yang retorted, “You called me ‘sugartits’, I can be however the fuck I want.”

Cardinal tightened his grip on Yang’s arm and scowled, “It was a compliment, Gods, don’t be so sensitive.”

Yang forced down the natural urge to activate her semblance, this asshole wasn’t even near worth it.

“If you don’t let go of me right now, I’m going to beat you up.”

Cardinal did not let go, “Seriously? You could just say ‘no’.”

“I did,” said Yang, seconds before ripping her arm from his grasp and decking him in the face.

Cardinal, now on the floor, felt his face, where Yang suspected a bruise would be tomorrow.

“You bitch.” he spat, standing up and charging at her, to which she sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and threw him over her head. He landed on the hard floor, making a satisfying crack on the marble ground.

“Do something!” he barked at his friend, who looked at Yang and ran off into the crowd.

Just then, Professor Oobleck approached the scene, “What on Remnet happened?” he asked, looking from Cardinal to Yang, “Are you having a brawl? Right now? In the middle of our school sanctioned dance?”

“To be completely fair,” Yang began, “He grabbed my arm, and called me ‘sugartits’. I warned him before this happened, I swear.”

Oobleck looked from Cardinal, and again, back to Yang. His expression shifted from shock and confusion to bleak understanding. He nodded once, before swiftly walking away.

Yang took this opportunity to abandon Cardinal and get more Strawberry Sunrises (three this time, just in case), and when Yang turned around, Cardinal was gone. Good riddance.

Yang walked back to the table Blake was sitting at. The cat Faunus was sitting across from an unfamiliar face. As Yang approached, she recognized the girl vaguely from history class, she thinks she might be on Team CFVY, but she isn’t sure.. she was bunny Fanus, long brown hair and tall, brown bunny ears.

“Hey, did I miss anything?” Yang asked, approaching the table. The bunny girl looked up at her, and Yang caught brown eyes. Yang noticed she was now holding the book Blake was reading earlier.

“Hi!” she introduced herself, “I’m Yang Xio Long.”

“Velvet Scarlatina.” said the bunny girl, her voice soft spoken. The name sounded familiar. She looked down to Yang’s hands, noting the drinks, and then back up at her.

“Three drinks?” she asked.

“Always carry an extra.” Yang explained. “But since you’re sitting with us, you can have it.”

Yang placed the extra in front of Velvet and turned her attention to her partner. Blake looked calmer than she had earlier. Yang secretly was disappointed she had not been the cause of that, as she intended.

“I’m telling you, Blake, You’re gonna love this Strawberry Sunrise.”

Yang held it out for her, and Blake sniffed it, “Nonalcoholic, right?”

“Do I look like someone who would break the rules?”

Blake opened her mouth to respond, but Yang tipped the drink forward so the rim touched Blake’s lips, preventing her from talking. “Don’t answer that.” Blake took the cup from her, and Yang took a sip of her own.

“Speaking of breaking bones-”

“Rules?” Velvet asked.

“Rules, bones, sometimes they're the same thing.” Yang shrugged, “Anyway, these two idiots pushed past me on my way over here, made me drop my drinks, that's why I’m late.”

Velvet raised an eyebrow, “They had to get you new ones?”

“No, I had to beat them up,” still exhilarated from the fight, Yang laughed and raised her cup, “Banzai! I love it here!”

A small giggle escaped Blake’s lips, so small, Yang almost missed it. She lifted her cup to clink against Yang’s, and Velvet followed suit.

“Here’s to a great year,” Blake said.

Velvet took a sip from her cup and gave a smile, then raised her cup again.

“To new friendships.”

Yang clinked her against Velvet’s, “Here here!”

“Wait,” said Velvet, as if remembering something, “Are you the same Yang Coco handed party planning over to? From Team RWBY?”

“Is Coco the girl with the sunglasses and beret and the butch haircut? From Team CFVY?”

Velvet giggled at the description of her friend, “Yup.”

“Then yes, this is she.” Yang confirmed, taking a sip of her Strawberry Sunrise.

“Oh, I thought I recognized your face! I was hoping I would run into you!” she exclaimed, “When we had been assigned that mission, I was worried who would take our job with decorations. When Coco told me she was giving it to a couple first years, well, I was a bit worried. But you and the Schnee girl did really well, I’m impressed.”

Yang was very impressed by Coco Adel when they had met. She was the absolute no funny business, badass butch energy kinda girl, and Yang was floored by that much top energy in one person. Team CVFY, a team of second years, had been tasked with the decorations and general party planning for the dance, but had then been assigned a mission that took place the day after the party. And with all the prep and training the mission required, they wouldn’t have time to actually do the party planning anymore. So Coco and her team had called Team RWBY, asking if they could cover for them.

She remembered being pulled aside by Team CVFY, all four of them, asking them if they were up to the challenge. Yang remembered agreeing quickly, and how Weiss had gone along as well. How Ruby had said she would, but she was awful with that kinda stuff. Yang would have agreed, but that probably wouldn’t have been a Good Big Sister Move. Coco had then gone on to explain what Team CVFY had already planned for the dance, and then shot down Yang’s idea for fog machines and Weiss’s idea for doilies. Then they had discovered Blake had been sleeping behind a book through the whole conversation.

Yang remembered Velvet being there, though at the time, she had been so absorbed into the idea of planning her own party, she hadn’t really paid attention to the other members of Team CFVY. but she remembered Velvet looking nervous, somewhat awkward. Now knowing that Coco had probably said to her and the rest of the team beforehand; “We’re giving our important party decoration task to a group of first years you’ve never met so we can focus on our mission”, Velvet had probably been worried they’d mess up the dance for everyone.

Yang laughed at the memory, “Thanks! It was hard trying to compromise with Weiss on a lot of decisions, though. Could you imagine doilies on every table? Because that's what /she/ wanted.”

Velvet laughed and Blake choked on her drink.

“Well thank the Gods you were here, then.” Velvet commented.

Suddenly, a loud clang sounded by the punch bowl, and Yang looked over to see Coco Adel, Cardinal, and possibly Jaune?

“Oh dear,” Velvet said, “I’d better go take care of that. Nice meeting you two! Uh, again.”

And with that, the Fanus stood up and took off, leaving her drink on the table.

“Well, she was nice.” Yang remarked, “What made her decide to come over here and talk to you?”

Blake ran a finger over the rim of her cup, “Some jerks were picking on her for her Fanus traits and I tripped them.”

“Jerks,” Yang repeated, “Same thing just happened to me, except it was my boobs they were commenting on and I beat them up.”

Blake nodded wisely, “I almost beat Velvet’s bullies up, but she told me not to, something about ‘solving this issue with violence would lead to them just doing it again instead of learning their lesson’.”

“Wise,” Yang remarked, “Almost makes me feel bad about beating up Cardinal.”

“Of course it was Cardinal.” Blake groaned, “Never feel bad about putting that jerkwad in his place.”

“In all fairness, he called me ‘sugartits’.”

Blake giggled, both hands on her cup.

“Don’t laugh! He did!”

Blake put one hand over her mouth, “No, I didn’t mean it like that I just-... ‘sugartits’? What era did he grow up in?”

And she went back to laughing, the sound vibrating out of her ribcage, and Yang couldn’t help but laugh too. She was suddenly aware Blake was sitting down at a table for two, and Yang was still standing. So Yang sat down on the tall bar chair opposite of her.

“Was I right?” Yang asked, suddenly.

Blake moved the hand from her mouth to her hair, tucking it behind her ear, “About what?”

“The drink,” Yang explained, “Do you like it?”

“Oh.” said Blake, as if just now remembering, “Yeah, actually. What was it called again?”

“Strawberry Sunrise,” Yang reminded her.

“Hmm,” hummed Blake, taking another sip, “I’ll keep that one in mind.”

Yang tapped her fingers against the cup in her hands, “Yeah. I was going to get Sunflower Pop, but they didn’t have any! I was sure I had put it on the drink list. Maybe Weiss took it off, just to spite me. Sounds like something she’d do.”

“What's that?” asked Blake.

“What’s what?” responded Yang.

“Sunflower Pop. I’ve never heard of it.”

“You’ve never had Sunflower Pop?” Yang asked, aghast.

Blake shook her head.

“This is an outrage!” Yang demanded, “You have to go out with me sometime to get some.”

“It’s that good?” Blake asked skeptically.

Yang nodded.

“What does it taste like?”

Yang opened her mouth and closed it, unsure of what to say, suddenly. Blake likes descriptions, stories, they could make or break most things for her. So Yang had to be thoughtful with this, careful.

“Well it’s a soda, so it’s bubbly. And it's like, it tastes like how sunflowers look, y’know? Bright, sunny. It.. it tastes like the color yellow. If that makes any sense. It sorta makes you feel like it's a hot, summer day. And it.. It's loud, flavorful. It sorta makes, like, fireworks go off in your head. Like when you’re high on adrenaline from a fight, or on a rollercoaster, or… when you’re with the right person.”

“The right person?” Blake proded.

Yang set both her hands around her glass, hoping not to fidget, or do anything else that might clue Blake in on how nervous she was.

“Y’know. The one person that's.. that's exciting. That makes your heart beat faster, like fireworks going off in your head,” Yang took a breath, “Sorry, I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Blake took a moment, her eyes darting to her drink and back up to Yang, “Sounds… nice. You know places that sell it?”

Yang ignored the way her heart pounded, “Yeah, a couple places in town have it.”

“I’m free this weekend.”

Yang took a deep breath, “Yeah, that sounds-”

“Hey guys!”

Sun startled Yang so bad she nearly fell over. He had found them. Fuck. Yang had totally forgotten what she was supposed to be doing. Blake turned to head to meet Sun’s gaze, and this big smile broke out on her face.

“Hey, Sun,” she began, “Where’ve you been?”

“What do you mean, where have I been? You totally ditched me!”

“No!” Blake laughed, “I just went out and got some air. Then I found this book…”

“Ah. Makes sense then,” he finished.

Blake giggled, and Yang forced out a laugh that hopefully, didn’t sound forced.

“Anyway, now that I've found you, care for a dance?” he asked, extending a hand.

And Blake took it.

“Sorry to steal her from you, Yang,” he said, jokingly.

Yang forced another laugh, showing them The Smile, “Course not! You two have fun.”

Blake looked at her, unsure for a moment, almost as if she could tell Yang was lying. Then they walked away.

As soon as Yang was sure no one was watching her, she slumped over in her chair, alone at a table for two, with three cups, all of them unfinished. Yang looked over to the sea of people. Team JNPR were all sitting down at a large table together, chatting animatedly. Jaune was still wearing his dress. Coco Adel leaned against a countertop, talking to Velvet. Weiss and Neptune were still dancing, as was Mercury, although he and Emerald must have parted ways, as he was now dancing with a black haired girl she didn’t recognize. And there was Blake and Sun. This whole night was a bust. Maybe she should just go back to the dorm, it was crystal clear she wasn’t going to salvage this night. Giving a long sigh, and chugging the rest of her Strawberry Sunrise, Yang stood up and headed toward the door.

Not even two steps from the table, the music turned off. Yang looked at the DJ, and Professor Goodwitch was standing there instead, leaning into the mic.

“Hello?” she said, her voice echoing across the room, “Oh good, it’s working. Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a good evening. Unfortunately, the dance will have to be shut down early.”  
Echoes of booing and general outrage broke across the dance floor.

“Yes, unfortunately, there has been an unknown figure spotted on campus wielding what appeared to be a crossbow, and all students will be evacuated to their dorms.”

Gods, could anything else go wrong tonight?

Ruby had left the party early. Ruby was out there somewhere. She said she was going back to the dorms. There's an intruder on campus.

Yang bolted toward the doors, the professors were trying to get everyone out as orderly as possible, but it wasn't working, at all. As soon as Yang made it outside, a hand grabbed onto her wrist. Yang turned around, it was Blake.

“What is it?” she said, as if she already knew something was wrong.

“Ruby,” Yang began, “She left the party early.”

Blake got that wild look in her eye, like she was ready to pounce, “Did she say where she was going?”

“Yeah. Back to the dorms.”

“Okay, let's check there first. C’mon let's find Weiss and we can-”

“There's no time!” Yang snapped. Blake understood. They ran in sync towards the dorm. Blake had longer legs, and Yang was nearly out of breath trying to catch up. They ran through the pavilion instead of running around it, and took the shortcut through the courtyard to get there faster. They didn’t waste time taking the elevator, sprinting up the stairs instead (Fifteen floors, no small feat). Even an experienced huntress would be at least a bit winded after all that, so Yang was not ashamed when she threw the door to their dorm room wide open, panting like a maniac.

And Ruby was standing there barefoot, still wearing her dress, but wielding her scythe, and her hair was windblown. And Professor- Headmaster Ozpin was in there with her. And they were both staring at her and Blake confused.

“Oh thank the Gods!” Yang sighed with relief, running over to her sister and giving her a bear hug.

“Sorry to interrupt, Professor,” apologized Blake bashfully, entering the room behind Yang.

“Don’t be,” he responded calmly, “I am in your room, afterall. I assume you heard all about the intruder from Glynda?”

Now armed with the knowledge that Professor Goodwitch’s first name was Glynda, Yang nodded, letting Ruby go, who had been squirming in her arms.

“Well then, you’ll be happy to know that it was Miss Rose who caught our culprit.”

Yang whipped her head back around to face her little sister, “You what!?”  
Ruby chuckled awkwardly, “Uh, ‘caught’ is a strong word…”

Yang grabbed onto her sister’s shoulders and shook her back and forth, “You said you were going back to the dorms!”

“I was!” Ruby squirmed out of her sister’s grasp, “I just sorta... bumped into her.”

“How do you ‘sorta’ bump into a criminal?!”

“I dunno, I just did!”

“Miss Rose has been through quite an ordeal this evening, which was why I was just saying she should get a good night’s rest before having to relive it.” Ozpin returned his gaze to Ruby, “I will be calling you to my office tomorrow to hear your side of the story, so be expecting it.”

“Yes sir.” Ruby replied.

Just then, the door opened and Weiss walked in. She surveyed the scene, and said;

“Should… should I go?”  
“You’re fine, Miss Schnee. I was just leaving,” Professor Ozpin responded, walking towards the door. When he reached it, Weiss moved out of the way for him. He stopped at the threshold, “Sleep well, girls, I believe you will need it.” and then he left.

“Must he always be this dramatic?” Weiss asked.

“I think that’s just his personality,” Ruby answered.

“Okay,” Yang began, “Tell us everything. Now. From the beginning.”

“Alright, so I was leaving the party…”

...

Ruby told them about how she saw the mysterious girl on the roof while leaving the party, and how she tracked down the girl to the communication tower, how her bow and arrows materialized out of thin air, and her clothes glowed red, like they were woven with dust. And how she disappeared as soon as General Ironwood arrived. The rest of the girls got changed and took off their makeup while she talked so by the time Ruby was done, everyone else was ready for bed.

“You think she’s working with the White Fang?” Blake asked, once she was finished.

“No,” said Ruby, “She wasn’t wearing their colors. Honestly, the whole thing was super confusing. I just wanna go to bed.”

“Probably for the best that we all do,” said Yang.

She climbed to the top bunk, when she heard Blake’s voice in the bed bellow her;<

“Shit.”

Yang hung upside down from her bed so she could see her partner.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s Sun,” she explained, “After Professor Goodwitch made the announcement, I saw you bolt out the door and I totally ditched him, I didn’t even look back. I just saw your face when she said it and… and I knew there was something wrong, and I didn’t even think twice. I haven’t even thought about him since we left.”

Guilt was written all over her face, “He must think I’m such a jerk.”

“Of course he doesn’t, that boy is crazy about you,” Yang reassured her, “But if you’re worried, you could always call him and check up on him.”  
Blake’s face and stature relaxed, obviously put at ease by Yang’s words.

“Yeah,” she agreed, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Thanks Yang, I know I can always count on you.”

Yang wasn’t sure if the heat on her face was from hanging upside down or from Blake’s words, probably a mixture of both.

“We still on for this weekend?” she asked.

Yang nodded. She hadn't forgotten. She couldn’t if she wanted to.

“‘Kay.” she responded, standing up to go fetch her scroll, “Night, Yang.”

“Good night, Blake.”

Yang pulled herself back up onto her bed and layed down on her back as Weiss turned off the lights. And under the over of darkness, she let herself feel everything for just a moment. Her love for Blake, The Lie, her worry for Ruby, all of it. It was almost overwhelming. Almost. She let it overwhelm her in waves before succumbing to sleep, listening to Blake’s voice as she spoke into her scroll.


End file.
